Posts

Feeling Minnesota

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It’s late April and still snow continues to fall in Minnesota not surprising for the state at this time of year where the weather forecast says the region will be blanketed in thick snow anytime soon. We arrived in Minneapolis- St. Paul Airport late last night on our way to San Diego and what greeted us was the nipping wind blowing right into our faces, numbing us in the process. Our Northwest Airlines Flight 755 out of Detroit was delayed by the plane’s spoiler malfunctioning and had to endure a 4 hour flight delay, transferred to another aircraft and missed the connecting flight that will take us to California. Northwest gave the passengers $100 service recovery vouchers to appease us for the delay and inconvenience. They also booked us in some hotels in downtown Minneapolis to spend the night and catch the first flight to San Diego the next day. On our way to downtown Minneapolis, we caught a glimpse of a city that is quiet and fast asleep, which was expected though for it was alrea...

The Power of Dreams

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ASIMO that versatile Honda robot that you often see in Honda Commercials will be in Detroit come May 13, 2008 to be the guest conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the opening act that features world- renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The 4- foot tall robot which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility (ASIMO) which was first developed by the Japanese automaker in 2000 with the objective of helping humans particularly the elderly doing their daily chores in the future can speak both English and Japanese. In addition, this latest generation robot can now recognize faces, climb up and down stairs, keep up when walking with human companions and serve tea among its many skills and capabilities. ASIMO will be at the podium for a one song performance, the special rendition of “The Impossible Dream” before relinquishing the baton to the DSO’s resident maestro Thomas Wilkins for the rest of the show. It will be ASIMO’s second high- profile appearance in the United States after the hi...

Wicked

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We Filipinos are unique in so many ways. Take for instance our sense of humor that always puzzles non- Pinoys. They shiver in complete horror whenever they hear or experience one of our patented not so politically- correct sense of humor. Who can forget the late Secretary Raul Manglapus when he quipped, “relax and enjoy it” when asked about what the Filipinas working in the Middle East should do if they found themselves being raped by their Arab masters? Most Filipinos are exposed to all kinds of sick jokes from the day he/ she was born until he/ she literally finds himself six feet under the ground. In fact, everything is fair game to us and our jokes can be considered as the wickedest of them all. This is again highlighted by the recent controversy involving the conduct of medical workers at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center wherein a patient was operated upon by a team of government doctors and nurses because a body spray canister was lodged in his rectal vault courtesy of a...

Lea Salonga Cinderella Press Con

A very candid Q & A portion plus a cameo of her daughter Nicole. :) video credits: vaguirre

Hope Spring's Eternal

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Hmmm, after months of blog inactivity which could be blamed partly to the cold, cold Michigan winter, I’m now trying to find my way back into Blogspot again and resume my writing chores at least on this particular blog since I’ve been writing and updating my other sites regularly. I’m no Rip van Winkle but I surely did sleep the winter away and finally woke up to the colors and aromas of Spring which is quite a big relief to my frost-weary body. I can now hear Vivaldi’s strings in the air as the tulips and hyacinths and such are slowly emerging from the once snowy ground. Don’t get me wrong but I love Winter for I like walking deep into the woods covered with snow where I could commune with nature; feel the cold breeze on my hair, the gentle touch of the snowflakes on my face and listen to the howling of the winds as well as the occasional chirpings of some wayward robins and cardinals in the air. It’s an uplifting experience, I tell you just walking in silence along a narrow trail am...

Basta Driver, Sweet Lover?

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"Our wisdom comes from our experience, and our experience comes from our foolishness." - Sacha Guitry (1885 - 1957)

CinderelLEA's Website

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Visit CinderelLEA's Page Check on CinderelLEA's Prince Charming VISIT- CinderelLEA's Home

Journey featuring Arnel Pineda in Chile 2008

Festival de Viña del Mar 2008 For more of Arnel Pineda's Explosive Debut with Journey Visit- Unchanged Melodies Rhapsody In Black

BookMark: Piercing

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This novel by Ryu Murakami which explores the dark side of the human mind takes us to the edge of what a person is capable of doing just to exercise his demons. In the book, Kawashima Masayuki, a yuppie in urban Japan, is struggling to fight for the longest time the urge to stab his young daughter with an ice pick. Wrestling with his inner self, he finally decides to embark on a journey to fight the demons that have been tormenting him due to a previous experience wherein as a teenager he stabbed a stripper who turned out to be... “Only voices and images from external world could neutralize those from the inside” Kawashima Masayuki finally devises an obscene plan to kill a prostitute to liberate him and protect his wife Yoko and daughter Rie from his demonic obsession. But Chiaki, a prostitute he hired who specialized in S & M plays while holed up in a hotel room to carry out his plans, turned out to be a disturbed soul herself. Together they went deep into t...

Songs and Verses

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The air is full of the music of your voice, my soul and body seem no longer mine, but mingled in some exquisite ecstasy with yours. I feel incomplete without you. Powered by Podbean.com Listen to me funeral bed, parched grass, dying love. To a new beginning Listen to me. Powered by Podbean.com Powered by Podbean.com If you were in my eyes for one day You could see the full beauty of the joy I find in your eyes And it isn't magic or loyalty If you were in my heart for a day You would have an idea Of what I feel When you hold m...

The New Journey

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Arnel Pineda (vocals) Neal Schon (guitar) Jonathan Cain (keyboards) Ross Valory (bass) Deen Castronovo (drums)

Parallel Universe

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Brandon Lee & Heath Ledger Death Masks? Heath Ledger , 28 Born: April Died: January Brandon Lee , 28 Born: February Died: March *They completed the four- month cycle: April- January- February- March and Numbers: 4-1-2-3 Or in Mathematics, Swiss Mathematician and Physicist , Leonhard Euler wrote what he admitted to be a paradoxical equation : 1-2+3-4+...= 1/4. More Numerology... The numbers 14, 10 & 11- 14 + 10 + 11= 35. If you divide 35 by 3 (3+5+3= 11)you'll have 11.66 (1+1+6+6= 14). Here's one from Wikipedia - "14 is an unlucky number to the Chinese. 14 is usually said as "shi si," which sounds like "ten die". Also, a common way to say "one" is as "yao". Therefore, 14 can also be said as "yao si," literally "one four," but it sounds like "want to die." which also have an unlucky connotation." Age: 28/2= 14 *Heath was born 14 years after Brandon (1979-1965=14) *Brandon died 14 y...

Giant Upset

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When the epic battle in the freezing weather was over, the New York Giants towered over the favored Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Wisconsin and booked themselves a seat to Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona. The match tested both teams' will and grit in the freezing temperature where the mercury pegged at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit and wind chill to minus 24 in what is probably one of the coldest, if not the coldest one in Professional Football history. It was a nip and tuck battle between two highly- determined team of gladiators that wasn’t decided until veteran Green Bay Quarterback Brett Favre made an uncharacteristic mistake when his pass was intercepted by the Giants’ Corey Webster paving the way for Lawrence Tynes’ game clinching 47- yard kick for the NFC Championship with a final score of 23- 20 in overtime The Giants won their first NFC championship since 2000 behind Eli Manning’s resurgence and heads- up play in the post season, their hard work on the defensive...

The "M"-Code

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This is not about Mr. James Bond’s Boss nor is it related to Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service . Rather this is a decree handed down to yours truly by Lady Steffi , High Priestess of her Middle East Queendom hidden underneath the vast arid tract of the Arabian Peninsula . Let it be for the record that in doing this Royal Decree I acted alone and of my own free- will and was not harmed, coerced nor tortured in whatever form or manner by the henchmen of Lady S from her Desert Queendom who preaches about the Art of character assassinations inherent inside us. The Edict reads-- Her Royal Highness Lady Steffi of the Middle East Kingdom of Arabia hereby command you to do the M- thing. Use the first letter of your name to answer each question. Must be places or names…Nothing made up. Can’t use own name for boy/girl’s name question. Since spies from rival kingdoms might be lurking in the dark, I deemed it necessary to do something like a Pictionary instead of the obvious ans...

Charlie Wilson's War

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Watching the movie, Charlie Wilson’s War that was based on George Crile ’s non- fiction bestseller Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History brought me back in time when as a 9- year old boy growing up in a rustic town in Albay , the Philippines , I first learned of the news of the Soviet Union ’s Invasion of Afghanistan on Christmas Day in 1979 from the pages of The Bulletin Today and Daily Express that my Gran’ Pa used to read, an event that caught the world by surprise that was soon followed by the US-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics in protest of the invasion. And while people in Manila can watch the news on several TV channels, we only got two channels working at the time on our side of the planet depending on where your typical aerial TV antenna was positioned/pointed at-- we have RPN from Iriga City on our west side and GMA from Legaspi City up north. I tell you, it was a funny exercise one had to do ju...

The Little Mermaid

Be A Part of Ariel 's World... Visit MitSusurrations for more of The Great White Way 's Treasures.

A Taste of Journey

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Yes Folks, you are looking at a bottle of Limited Edition 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the De La Montanya Family of Sonoma, CA with an Autographed label from all the members of the rock band, Journey . With just 16 cases on sale, proceeds of the $100 bottle goes to California's Greater Bay Area Make-a-Wish Foundation . Hmmm, I'm thinking of getting one but... Anyway, let me introduce you to Journey 's very potent line- up: Arnel Pineda (lead singer) Neal Schon (guitar) Jonathan Cain (keyboards) Ross Valory (bass) Deen Castronovo (drums) And new lead singer Arnel Pineda’s journey with Journey begins this coming February 21 at the Festival de Viña del Mar in Chile to jumpstart their 2008 Concert Tour Series… I say, let's drink to that. Note: Hey Karmi , you have a chance to see Arnel Pineda in his baptism of fire with Journey. :)

The List

I was tinkering with my layout and accidentally deleted my "blogberks" links. Now, I have to put it back manually. The good thing is, there is not much since I only link up people that I visit often. If your blog is on my blog roll, then it only means one thing--- That you're a real damn good blogger! But first, I need to get some Z's.

A Day in the Life

Bad Weather. Snow Storm. Blizzard Condition. Snow: 5 - 10 inches. 3-4 feet in open areas. Temp: 17 degrees F. Windchill: 0 to minus 10. Movie Marathon- Lions for Lambs & 3:10 To Yuma. Longganisa and Tinapa chased by Caffeine- free Diet Coca Cola. Charlie Wilson's War & Love in the Time of Cholera. Bagoong Balayan, Kare- kare and Fried Tilapia. Pistons Basketball, Pistachio and Michelob Pale Ale... Across the Universe & The Kite Runner. Drove to Burger King for a Double Whopper & Onion rings at 4 a.m. de Palma's Redacted plus Franz + Polina. Gotta catch a wink by 9 a.m.

Hot Wheels 2008

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In about two weeks or so, the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) will open at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. It is one of the biggest auto shows in the world and a must- see event on this side of the planet. This year, I plan to be there having missed the last two years of the event. And if you're a car buff, you're going to love it. Let me just give you an idea of how big and prestigious this event in the Motor City with this blast from the past... The 2005 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) was held from January 14- 22 at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit, Michigan, USA. Hundreds of thousands of car lovers and enthusiasts converge in the Motor City to watch the latest and trendiest car of their dreams- from the traditional high- end auto makers to the affordable ones; they made the 2005 edition a roaring success by their new and innovative designs that were a feast to the eyes of everyone. The show was a showcase of the latest technologica...